Psychology Graduate Program

We offer a single doctoral degree which may be earned in one of the following programs: Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology, or Brain, Behavior, and Quantitative Science. All of our programs boast distinguished and award-winning faculty, notable research publications, and a deep foundation in the historical progress of psychological advances. You can read more about our faculty's research interests and publications on our Faculty page.

Explore our Program Areas

Fall 2025 Applicants

Overview

The Psychology Graduate program offers a single MA/Ph.D. program. Students admitted to one of our concentrations enter with the expectation of continuing graduate study through the Ph.D. as the department does not offer a terminal Master's degree.

For applicants interested in Clinical Child Psychology: The Clinical Child Psychology doctoral training program is housed within the Department of Clinical Child Psychology. Contact Katie Williams (kfwilliams@ku.edu) graduate program coordinator, with any questions regarding applying to this program.

Admission

Application Deadline

The application deadline for the Fall 2025 admission is December 2, 2024. Our concentrations may have priority deadlines, please see above for more details.

Required Materials

• A current C.V. (Curriculum Vitae) or resume
• A Statement of Purpose
• Name and email addresses for 3 references, preferably from those who have worked with you and know your research interests and abilities (please use KU's online letter of recommendation system when you apply)
• List of psychology courses taken and grades received

Transcripts & English Proficiency

• Transcripts from all institutions from which a degree was obtained, or any institutions attended post-bachelors. Copies of official transcripts that you have opened may be uploaded to the application online and used for admissions consideration. If you are admitted, sealed, or official electronic transcripts showing degree conferral, if applicable, must be provided by the end of your first semester at KU. Send official, sealed transcripts to:

Graduate Admissions

Lawrence, KS 66045

• Non-native English speakers must demonstrate proof of English proficiency before gaining admission to a graduate program. More information can be found on KU's Graduate Studies English Proficiency Requirements for Graduate Admissions policy page. Please send TOEFL and IELTS scores to KU Instition Code 6871.

Program Requirements

Each concentration has a unique set of requirements. To learn more, please refer to the Degree Requirements in the Academic Catalog for specifics.

Who's Admitting Students?

Visit our Faculty page to see who is looking to admit a student this year! The Faculty list is updated as these decisions are announced.

Students who have earned a MA or MS Degree

We often admit students who have completed a masters degree in another program. Students who are admitted with MA or MS degrees in psychology (or closely related fields) may be credited with a maximum of 30 hours toward our Ph.D. degree. The number of hours that actually count toward our requirements depends on how well the students' MA program courses map onto our program requirements. Students who wish to have previously taken courses apply toward one or more of our program requirements should meet with and provide our current course instructor(s) with syllabi from the previous coursework. If the instructors judge the previous coursework to be substantially equivalent to our own, the required course is waived.

If a student's MA or MS degree program included an empirical thesis, that thesis may be accepted as satisfying our program's empirical thesis requirement, pending the outcome of a review to determine if the thesis is comparable to those produced within our program. At their earliest convenience, such students provide the program director with a copy of their thesis. The concentration director then asks one or two faculty members to evaluate the thesis for comparability to those produced by members of our program. If a thesis is accepted as satisfying our requirement, it does not count against the maximum of 30 hours that may be credited. Masters students whose MA or MS programs do not include an empirical thesis (or whose empirical theses are judged not comparable to those from KU) are required to conduct an empirical thesis as part of our Ph.D. program..

Financial Support

Students admitted to the Psychology Graduate Program are eligible for a variety of opportunities for financial support. These include:

• Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) & Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)
  • GTA appointments are most common in the department. Students are responsible for instructing classes and grading student coursework.
  • GRA appointments are available to students whose advisors are actively conducting research with grant support. These are provided at the advisor's and department's discretion.
  • University Graduate Fellowships (UGF)
  • Dean's Doctoral Fellowships (DDF)
  • Chancellor's Doctoral Fellowships (CDF)
  • Students are welcome to bring outside funding to study in our program. Visit our Resources page for potential sources for outside funding.

  If you are interested in being considered for one or more of these opportunities, please indicate this on your application.

  Use KU's Tuition & Fee Tool to help calculate cost of attendance.*

  *Admitted students who are offered funding may be eligible for a tuition waiver. Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator for more information.

  Application Fee Waivers

  Click to expand

  The Department has historically accepted requests for application fee waivers. If and when funding is available to accept these requests, instructions will be uploaded.